There is absolutely no doubt that Obama views himself not as merely the 44th President but as a trancendental figure with a budding mandate to take America in whatever direction he wants. I have little doubt that he will use his lawyerly training to manipulate the edges of constitutional law in ways that will undermine the opposition and entrench his liberal policies. He's taking power during an economic crisis, with a supermajority in Congress, and I'm sure we'll see moves from Obama that rival those of FDR during his megalomania period. It wouldn't shock me if they revisit FDRs idea of enlarging the Supreme Court so as to pack it with liberals, just as they're already promising the unconstitutional move of giving DC voting representatives in Congress in order to add 2 more Senators to their majority.

The first test for Obama will be how quickly he moves to repeal the USA PATRIOT Act. This has been a bugaboo of the left for 7 years, a major talking point during his left-wing courtship. Will he keep his promises to MoveOn.org and endanger the lives of Americans, or will he govern responsibly and use the emminently reasonable powers of that Act aggressively in order to keep us safe.

How loudly will MoveOn.org squeal when the act isn't repealed within the first 100 days?